


a house in a tree, up there with the birds

by rayfelle



Series: and there was silence [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Female Harry Potter, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-Deathly Hallows AU, some cute some drama lots of idk what is going on either, twilight second book ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23548354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rayfelle/pseuds/rayfelle
Summary: Harry knows Jasper likes the sound of her breathing, has sometimes simply laid his head on her chest to listen to it and the beating of her heart. It’s sweet, in a way. To be appreciated for something so strange and thought of as a given.For being alive.(second year in Forks only seems uneventful, Cullens are not present for the most part and Harry thinks about visiting England)
Relationships: Jasper Hale/Harry Potter
Series: and there was silence [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1672810
Comments: 28
Kudos: 667





	a house in a tree, up there with the birds

Harry’s bare toes are buried into the soft, warm soil. Her fingers, as well, are dirty from hours spent tending to her garden. The magical herbs and the normal plants sway in the wind as he finishes up with the rest of the weeding.

Long ago, while still living under the Dursley’s, she had despised gardening thanks to Petunia’s draconian demands. Now, however, Harry finds peace in it. Now that everything is up to her, from the choice of flowers to the design, and there are no nonsensical rules to how things should be, it’s her favorite past time. Apart from sleeping and trying to get Jasper to recreate the burst of freckles that once was atop his, then, human nose.

Harry falls back on the grass, hair tangled in the green strands and messed up with dirt and sweat from hours of work. The sun is a bright ball up above. Birdsongs flutter about the treetops and Harry wonders if she will fall asleep if she closes her eyes just for a moment.

“You shouldn’t sleep out here, darlin’. Who knows what beasts prowl the forest.” Jasper’s fingers are cool against her forehead. Pleasant.

Harry blows a raspberry at the man. “My land, I do what I want.”

The vampire laughs, but doesn’t move from his crouch by her side. His eyes are the same gold as usual, darker now that he is in front of the sun. An illusion. “I come with an invitation from Esme. It’s Bella’s birthday and we’re having a party.”

“Hmm.” Harry flexes her toes.

The witch wants to say yes, but she also doesn’t want to go. There are conflicting feelings Harry has towards Bella, towards the chaotic triangle that seems to have grown lately between Edward, Alice and the human girl. Jasper told Harry one evening about the mess of feelings that buzz around Bella now – conflict, sadness, impatience, worry. Harry hasn’t seen the girl too many times since the incident with James, but the times she has, Bella had not been subtle in her staring.

Harry never has been good with being stared at, judged silently.

“I’ll go for you. I know you’ll miss me too much otherwise.” Harry grins. She knows her own emotions are not subtle at all, the same way she knows that Jasper is too much of a gentleman to call her out on them.

Jasper pokes the tip of Harry’s nose. He’s amused, maybe a little fond. “How generous of you, truly. I am very thankful.”

Harry jabs her finger in Jasper’s unprotected stomach, not caring that she’s met with unbending marble instead of human softness. “You sure don’t sound like it, Whitlock.”

There are streaks of dirt on Jasper’s face afterwards, Harry’s fingerprints visible on the vampire’s clothes. Harry sheds her shirt before she’s even stepped properly inside of her home, feels Jasper’s hands on the dip of her waist almost instantly. There are teeth gently nibbling on the curve of her neck as the two of them make their way towards the bathroom. Harry lets out a breathy gasp when Jasper kisses behind her ear.

“And you called Emmett a horny teenager.” Harry detaches from Jasper to start the bath. In the mirror’s reflection she admires the new red mark left on her neck, one that will surely be there for a while.

Jasper sits down on the closed toilet lid. “He is. But when I have a siren playing me like a fiddle, can you blame me for acting like him, darlin’?”

Harry leans against the bath and crosses her arms so that they push up her small breasts. “I can and I will. Now, do you want bubbles or bath salts? I have ones that play a melody _and_ smell just divine.”

…

“Spit it out, what do you want?” Harry has a glass of cider in her hand and she sips from it.

The tiny party has been pretty fun so far. Harry spent her time mostly with Rosalie, talking with the vampire lady about the new fashion shop in Forks, with clothes that seem to be a little higher up the brand chain than what most places offer. Jasper came by from time to time, quiet questions on his lips and with a different snack to offer to Harry, mostly on Esme’s insistence.

Bella has come up to her on a moment when the vampires had disappeared in the kitchen, finally free of the two limpets in the shape of Edward and Alice. She’s still so shy and unsure, a little fidgety. Harry knows she shouldn’t be as rude as she had been, but the glances and the prolonged staring really did bring her back to the dark times in Hogwarts.

Harry is also pretty sure the vampires can hear them.

Perhaps Bella realizes that too, because she blushes and then takes a deep breath. “Um, if you don’t mind, of course, but… I wanted to meet you sometime, alone. Um, to have a talk? I have some, some questions.” The girl’s fingers keep twisting together in a nervous gesture, but her voice is surprisingly firm, despite the stuttering.

Harry sips her cider and hums. “Sure. Ask Jasper to take you up to my home whenever.”

It’s then that the vampires slip out of the kitchen one by one, ending with Esme carrying out the birthday cake. Out of all of them only Harry and Bella can eat it, of course, but the gesture is nice and heartwarming anyway. Harry stands back and watches the human girl blow out the candles and giggle in her palm from all the attention.

Jasper slides up to Harry again, arm around her waist and a kiss to the top of her head. “Thank you for playing nice.”

“Shut up. I am nice when I want to be.” Harry is close to sticking her tongue out at her boyfriend, but doesn’t. She’s an adult, she can act like one. Sometimes.

The evening dos not end on a happy note, despite the promising start. There is a blood scare when Bella gets a paper cut, but everyone stays in control of themselves and Carlisle takes care of everything with the help of a band aid. Jasper comes close to losing it, but Harry is there with a quick, non-verbal spell and a fast snap of her wand behind the vampire’s back.

Only when Carlisle takes Bella to the kitchen does Harry release Jasper from the spell and the vampire immediately disappears through the doors and into the forest that surrounds the Cullen house. Harry heaves a sigh, while the other vampires look relieved.

“Thank you so much, my dear.” Esme runs a hand down Harry’s arm. She has a tiny smile on her lips, a little sad around the edges. “Jasper doesn’t have the best control when the blood is so… sudden.”

“We hadn’t talked about me putting spells on him. I hope he’s not mad at me.” Harry wrinkles her nose in worry. She knows that it should be a baseless fear, but sometimes she can’t help it. Jasper is important to her and, whether or not it was for the best, she would have liked his consent beforehand.

Rosalie snorts from where she has settled in the corner of the couch. “Don’t worry about him. He’s probably more embarrassed about almost lunging for the girl than anything else.”

“Rosalie. Bella could have gotten hurt.” Edward hisses, more lisp than words thanks to his fangs.

“ _Please_. There are, like, six other vampires around to stop him. Your little girlfriend would have been completely _fine_.” Rosalie turns up her nose. She has not been secretive about the fact that she doesn’t really like Bella. Not in a mean way, more so that she finds the human a liability and somewhat annoying, perhaps.

Harry never asked, neither to Rosalie herself, or Jasper, and she doesn’t particularly care either.

She ends up leaving soon after. Not entirely because of the strained mood that has settled between Edward and Rosalie. Harry is tired and worried about Jasper, figures that the vampire would be more likely to come to her house than back to the Cullen home.

…

Later that night Jasper knocks on Harry’s window. His clothes and hands are dirty, but he looks calm and collected again. Around his mouth there is animal blood.

There are apologies and reassurances, gentle kisses. Harry falls asleep with her head on Jasper’s chest, the vampire a cold, hard, yet calming presence next to her in the bed.

…

“You’re here often lately.” Harry comments idly from her spot on the couch, where she’s splayed out with some muggle romance book. It’s something that Hermione had recommended to her.

Jasper hums. He has been fiddling with Harry’s dirty dishes for a while now, washing them more thoroughly than need be, especially so when the witch would have just spelled them clean. But Harry, more than anyone, knows that sometimes there is just a _need_ for some mindless distraction, a chance to think and gather all thoughts before talking or doing something.

Instead of pressing for answers Harry stretches out her toes and let’s her feet dangle over the armrest of the couch. She reads through one chapter of the book, then another one -soon it has turned from morning to afternoon. Jasper has long since finished with the dishes and has moved to other messes around Harry’s house. From dirty laundry, to unfolded clothes left laying around. At some point Harry thinks the vampire is outside tending to the muggle flowers.

Harry wonder if there is something that her boyfriend is not talking about with her. A coven thing.

With a huff she marks her place in the book and then gets up to find something to eat, perhaps a cup of tea. It’s when Harry is sitting on her kitchen counter, teapot puffing out steam next to her on the stove, that Jasper reappears from her bathroom, clutching onto cleaning supplies.

Harry just raises her eyebrow at the man. Jasper stops in his tracks and then makes a face, a little embarrassed and somewhat like a kid caught in the middle of being naughty. The laugh that bubbles up Harry cannot stop, in fact, it only grows in volume as Jasper joins her.

“Sorry, darlin’. There is something I need to tell you, but it’s not a… concrete thing that might happen.” Jasper dumps the cleaning supplies by the sink and then hugs Harry, face pressed against her stomach despite the awkward angle he needs to bend into. “We might need to leave Forks for a while. A long one, maybe.”

Harry scratches her fingers through Jasper’s soft hair, wonders yet again if the vampire could properly feel them would he be purring like a cat now, despite the heavy topic. “Okay. I hope you’re not going to break up with me because of that. Or, I don’t know, leave with no notice.”

Jasper shakes his head. His hold around her tightens. “Of course not. I’d call, send letters, owls if need be. I’d even stay here, if possible. Never leave.”

The kettle whistles that Harry’s tea water has boiled. She pulls her wand out of her messy hair bun and waves it towards it. “ _Wingardium leviosa_.”

The tea seeps in. Jasper stays unmoving as Harry starts to slowly braid his hair into as many braids as she can fit atop of his head.

Harry has no room to judge sudden needs to leave for a long period of time. Her last year of Hogwarts was just that, after all. Maybe not the same circumstances, of course. She left behind people that were in danger, _friends_ she cared about. Then it was do or die, stay or be found and tortured, killed. Made an example to those that still want to resist. There is no more Voldemort, perhaps, but the scars that monster created still linger.

“Sorry. I made you remember something sad, didn’t I?” Jasper cups Harry’s face in his palms. He places a kiss on the top of her nose, on her forehead. “Sorry.”

Now it’s Harry’s turn to shake her head. “No, no. Not your fault. Just some memories, nothing more.” She returns the tiny kisses, nuzzles against Jasper’s hand. “Is it a family thing?”

“Kind of. There is something going on in Arizona, some troubles with newborns. They asked for Carlisle’s help, as well as mine, because… Well, you know already. And Edward is being complicated. Too many emotions at home for me right now.” Jasper finally sounds tired. He buries his nose in Harry’s hair, sags forward enough to push some of his weight onto the witch.

Harry kisses Jasper’s neck once, lightly. The scent of peppermint tea has finally saturated the air enough for it to maybe work in helping the vampire relax, even if just slightly. It must be hard, she wonders, to live with so many different personalities in one place. Not that school has been any different, but with Jasper’s gift added to the mix it must be a whole another experience.

“You can stay here for however long you want, you know. I don’t really care about your old-school cowboy manners.” Harry says against the soft material of Jasper’s shirt. Some of the buttons press into her cheek as she speaks, but Harry doesn’t mind.

Jasper is quiet for a second. “They are not old-school. I’m just being a gentleman.”

Harry snorts. “You sure weren’t all that much of a gentleman when you came to invite me to Bella’s birthday party, or a couple of nights after it. Don’t try to act like one now, _honey_.”

The tea stays untouched for a couple hours.

…

Harry has said all her goodbyes to Jasper and the rest of the Cullens. Edward is not around, and Alice seems to be withdrawn and sullen, unlike her usual bubbly self. The vampire girl has her gaze focused somewhere far away, into the dark forest that stretches on behind the house.

“That’s what they get for being stuck on a human.” Rosalie is holding onto Emmett’s arm, long hair pulled up into a sleek ponytail. Her nose wrinkles just a little bit when she turns to Harry. “You don’t count. You’re one of us supernatural f—bastards.”

Harry snorts, despite the somewhat moody overall mood of the meeting. “Thanks for the censure.”

“See, Jasper, my dude, my darling Rosalie is the best and the kindest.” Emmett wiggles his eyebrows. “Outside of the bed, at least.”

Jasper looks pained, but not as much as Emmett does when Rosalie knees him into the stomach strong enough to throw the bulky vampire across the clearing and into some trees. The loud bang echoes throughout the forest, drowning out the tired sigh that Carlisle makes.

Esme pats her husband gently on the back.

“Call me when you can, okay?” Harry lays her head against Jasper’s shoulder.

Jasper hums. “I will call so much you will get sick of me, darlin’.”

“Then I would have already gotten sick of you a long time ago. You and your vampire troubles.” Harry would pinch her boyfriend if she could. But sadly, her tiny human fingers can’t do anything against the stone of a vampire’s skin.

“How mean.”

They wait around for a while more, until Edward will come back from whenever he had gone away to. Harry thinks he has gone to say goodbye to Bella, more so because of Rosalie’s comment and Alice’s somber mood. The young woman must have already said her goodbyes, for the near future at least.

Jasper leaves Harry’s side to help Carlisle with something and Alice doesn’t waste any time to take his place. Harry just blinks and waits for the other woman to say whatever she wants to say.

“Could you please look after Bella while we’re gone? I had strange visions and they were… I think Edward will say, or already said, something upsetting to her.” Alice tries to smile, but it comes out empty and sad.

Harry reaches out to take Alice’s hand and squeeze it, despite how seemingly moot the action may be coming from her. It’s the thought that counts, after all. “Hey. I won’t babysit a grown girl; she has her father for that. She wanted to talk to me though, so I can use that to check in on her, I guess. Really though, you’re not moving away forever.”

Alice looks relieved anyway. “Yeah, but I worry. Thanks, Harry. You’re the best.” This time the grin is genuine and bright, like what Harry is used to seeing.

The Cullens leave a couple of minutes later when Edward shows up. The young forever-teen has a rather deep scowl on his face and he doesn’t speak with anyone. Jasper rolls his eyes and follows the rest of his family after one last kiss shared with Harry.

…

There is a letter tied to Lucy’s, Harry’s new owl’s, leg. The owl looks ruffled and grumpy, like a perpetually grouchy old man. The downright acidic glare that bird always has on was the main reason why Harry chose to adopt it as a pet. Ginny was the one who pointed out that the owl reminds her Lucius Malfoy, in a weird way. And so the name stuck.

Harry feeds Lucy a few owl treats before she unties the letter from his leg and glances down at it. She reads the name of the person who sent this to her once more, carefully, before putting the letter down to deal with another time.

…

“This place reminds me of when we were on a run and I spliced myself.” Ron has Rose held in his arms as the baby babbles on excitedly. “Very… natural.”

From inside Harry’s home comes a very tired sigh, courtesy of Hermione. Harry snickers under her breath. She has no shoes on, as usual.

Ron sticks his tongue out in Hermione’s general direction and then goes back to peering at the forest with a critical eye. “Are you sure there are no bears, or wolves that can just show up and, like, eat you?”

Rose squeals in her dad’s hold.

“I have the wards around for a reason. But there’s also shifters and vampires around, so I’m good and safe.” Harry waves away the worries as if they are nothing. And for them, for the magicals, they pretty much are. “Besides that, Jasper is here pretty often anyway.”

Ron is about to say something when Hermione comes out of the house with many dishes floating along with her. She sets everything on the wooden table and then nods at her own job well done. “Okay, I’m done. Harry, just so you know, I’m beyond disappointed in the lack of food in your refrigerator and I hope you know I am judging you severely.”

“I haven’t gone shopping in a while, so what?” Harry slumps down in her seat and reaches for some of the soup.

Rose is passed from Ron to the comfortable highchair, where the little girl has her own vegetable mush for lunch. She squeals again and starts flinging the mush around with abandon. Her parents don’t even bat an eye at the food flying everywhere and just start on whatever they chose for themselves.

“You did good by leaving the mess that is England, Harry. The old farts still in charge are still going on about your greater duty to the community and whatnot.” Ron licks a speck of sausage fat from his fingers before nodding towards his wife. “Mione is always cursing up a storm after meeting them.”

“ _Honestly_. I’m so glad some of the old DA members went into ministry with me, so I can have someone sane with me there.” Hermione stabs a potato rather violently. “Oh, by the way, Luna and Draco send their love. They just had their first boy a few days before we left.”

Harry makes a tiny sound at the back of her throat. “Oh Merlin, really? Then I really need to go back and visit. I flooed with Luna a few weeks ago and she looked ready to pop then already. I bet Draco was a crying mess, _right_?”

“Parkinson was handing out pictures of him crying after the birth to anyone who passed her. I have one for you as well, by the way.” Ron laughs into his salad. He stops eating just for a second to first check up on Rose, who now has mush in both her hair and her mouth, and then pats his pockets for the said picture.

“Is Lucius still in denial about the whole thing?” Harry takes the picture from Ron and can’t help but laugh loudly at the panicked, crying Draco that is trying to show his newborn son to everyone else in the room. Luna, as usual, looks completely unbothered by whatever is happening around her. “Ah, I’m gonna frame this.”

Hermione sighs in motherly love as she gets up to clean up her daughter. “I think he has come around finally. Mostly thanks to Narcissa.”

They continue catching up properly well into the evening, Harry taking Rose from her friends’ hands and entertaining the tiny, active girl with whatever games and magic tricks that she can. Once the baby falls asleep Harry brings out some of her alcohol and the three continue to chat about their friends, about Harry’s day here, the drama that has continued from school into their adult lives.

“I heard that Dumbledore’s portrait wants to meet you.” Ron is flushed so red that even his freckles are hard to see. He hiccups smoke once. “Or that’s what Hanna was telling us once.”

Harry snorts, falls back onto the pillows thrown on the floor. “No way in hell. I talked with him once and got mad, I’m not meeting him again. Even then it was all about Snape anyway and that pissed me off.”

“Fuck Snape.” Hermione mutters under her breath.

Both Ron and Harry look at the witch with wide, surprised eyes.

Hermione pouts. “What? He was brave, sure. But a complete arsehole to us in school. And he called me a know-it-all all the time.” She turns up her nose with a little huff.

Ron leans closer to her and kisses her cheek, tickles under her chin. “Yeah, he was. We just never exl-exp- _expected_ to hear that from you.” He giggles into the wild mess that is his wife’s hair.

They end up falling asleep in the living room, splayed around on the couch or the floor. Next morning at six Rose decides to wake up and Harry wobbles around the tiny house to go and greet the tiny, loud not-a-morning-person baby while her two best friends are still out cold.

“Morning, Rosie. You sure have a pair of lungs on you, huh?” She holds the still crying baby to her chest and rocks her back and forth in order to calm her down. Harry wonders, just for a fleeting second, would she even have her own kids one day. Will she ever be ready for them.

…

Harry is walking down one of the streets of Forks with Ron and Hermione, Rose a noisy passenger in her stroller, when Bella passes them by on a motorbike. Granted, they are on the outskirts of the small town, away from the biggest hubbub of people, but still it seems like a rather dangerous choice of action.

“You know, muggles are pretty wild.” Ron mumbles as he watches Bella round a corner.

Hermione shakes her head in clear disapproval. “This is how they die – young and stupid. At least our kind have you-know-what, so we can protect ourselves.” She huffs another annoyed sigh when another person on a bike zooms past.

Harry blinks at the somewhat familiar bulk of Jacob. Only now he seems to have filled in better into himself. The teenager is less lanky and unsure of his own body, but more filled-in. Muscly. Or, at least, he seems to be while sitting on a bike and going way over the speed limits.

Just as they are about to continue on there is a crash from somewhere up ahead. A loud screeching sound, metal against concrete, followed by a sharp scream. Jacob’s worried yell follows soon after, coupled with the whine of breaks.

“Oh damn, should we go check?” Ron has his eyebrows furrowed in worry.

Harry is worried as well. She may not be that friendly with Bella, but she did promise Alice to keep an eye on the girl while the vampires were gone. “The guy is one of the shifters, I think he can take care of it on his own.”

Hermione makes a tiny noise of displeasure. “We can’t do much anyway because of the statute.” She does seem conflicted though.

In the end they continue with their walk through the town. It’s Hermione and Ron’s last day here, since their scheduled portkey for the next part of their America tour leaves early the next morning. Harry is beyond happy her two best friends decided to come and visit her, promises them both to go back to England at the end of the year for sure.

Maybe Jasper will be with her then. Hopefully.

“Don’t get in trouble.” Hermione hugs Harry impossibly tight when they say their goodbyes.

Ron just laughs, as loud and booming as he always has. The scatter of freckles across his nose shine bronze in the morning sun. “As if Harry can do that. Don’t you remember, she doesn’t go looking for trouble—”

“—trouble finds me. Exactly, mate.” Harry fist-bumps with Ron.

With a _pop_ Hermione, Rose and Ron are gone and Harry is left standing alone by her wards. Somewhere further in the forest a wolf howls and she purses his lips at the sound.

…

“So, how’s the newborn thing going on?” Harry has her fuzzy socks on, some old American movie playing on the television.

Jasper sounds tired on the other end of the call. “ _Tiring, dalin’. There’s two of them here, one turned on accident and one that survived by a miracle. We’re lucky the Arizona coven found them before there were too many casualties._ ”

Harry wraps a blanket tighter around herself. It’s late and she’s tired, but the need to talk to Jasper is bigger than anything else. “Sounds like a pain. I don’t know much about newly turned, but they are super hungry, right?”

“ _Hungry, aggressive and very strong because of it. That’s why I have so many scars._ ” Jasper sighs. There is some shuffling on his end, the _clack_ of something either opening or closing. “ _And Edward has been a moody little shit._ ”

“Still?”

“ _Mhmm. I think he also had a fight with Alice, since they aren’t talking anymore_.” Jasper’s words are a little fuzzy around the edges due to the wind on that end. He must have stepped outside.

Harry hums. “Bella is acting like a reckless idiot. She crashed a bike yesterday.” She hasn’t actually checked up on the human girl yet, wonders if she should. Though Jacob seems to be around the girl a lot lately, so she must be in somewhat good hands.

“ _That explains why Alice has been worried lately. I think she has had some more visions._ ” Jasper has gone from tired to thoughtful, perhaps just glad to talk about something else than newly turned vampires and the worries and problems that come with making them adjust to their new lifestyle.

Harry focuses on the movie for a moment, happy to simply bask in the silence, the knowledge that Jasper is there, listening. She knows her boyfriend likes the sound of her breathing, has sometimes simply laid his head on her chest to listen to it and the beating of her heart. It’s sweet, in a way. To be appreciated for something so strange and thought of as a given.

For being alive.

“Ron and Hermione left this morning. Invited me to theirs for Christmas.” Harry lays back on the couch and raises her legs up, feet pointed towards the ceiling. “Wanna come with? People want to meet you, like friends and family.”

Jasper laughs and the sound of it makes tingles run up and down Harry’s spine. “ _Sure, I haven’t been in England for a while. Or… wait, have I ever been there? I don’t quite remember._ ” He seems to be confused, mumbles something under his breath as he tries to recall a memory he might not even have.

Harry snorts and can’t stop herself from laughing loudly. She rolls on her side and wheezes a little. “Idiot. My mates will love you. Especially Luna, I think. Dora as well. I think I’ve told you about her, right? My godson’s mom?”

“ _Yeah, I’ve seen pictures as well._ ” Jasper pauses for a moment and then continues, “ _I’m honored to be able to meet your closest people, darlin’. I can’t wait._ ”

The sincerity of those words makes Harry feel warm and fuzzy, like those cheesy teenager love novels used to describe the girl’s when they get together with their crushes. It’s such a little thing. Something so simple and, as many would think, not that significant. But for Harry, who only got proper, _true_ friends and family later on, Jasper truly wanting to meet them it means so, so much.

“Thanks.” Harry curls into herself, face warm and eyes itching slightly, as if she’s ready to cry. She sniffles.

Jasper tuts. “ _Nothing to thank me for, Harry._ ”

…

Harry ties the answering letter to Lucy’s leg and watches the owl take off into the sky. She still feels strange to be writing to Dudley. But perhaps it’s possible to find peace between them, especially when her cousin was the one to reach out first, to change based on what he saw and lived through.

Dudley told Harry she was not a waste of space. He thanked her for saving his life.

Harry doesn’t know if they can ever be as close as a family should be, but there is a chance for something more than just silent, cold distance. A redemption, for the generations to come.

Someone knocks on her door.

Harry furrows her eyebrows and glances back. The wards hum quietly at the back of her head, a calm buzz that assures of her guests being safe. She has her wand strapped to her forearm now, unlike how she usually leaves it somewhere around the house and in the back pocket of her pants.

It’s Jacob and Bella.

“Ah, hello. Sorry for barging in on you. Bella here said she wanted to talk to you, but didn’t know where you live.” Jacob is sheepish and apologetic, though still friendly with Harry. “Your ah, wa--”

“Bella doesn’t know and can’t know about that or me.” Harry is quick to cut the shifter off before anything is said. She doesn’t have it in her to _obliviate_ someone today. “But other than that, I don’t mind having guests. As long as it’s not like our last meeting was.” She grins at Jacob.

Jacob, for his part, just blinks once and then laughs. “Sorry, forgot you have rules for that. But me and the packs mouths have been shut, no worries!”

“So you’re some other supernatural something after all. Why can’t I know? Jacob already told me about, about the wolf thing.” Bella has scrapes on her face and arms. She seems more haggard than last time Harry saw her, somewhat duller than normal. Sad.

Harry hums. “If I tell you what I am then I’d have to make sure you forget and never remember. And Jacob has his own pack rules he follows.”

She waves the two guests inside. Jacob looks interested, Bella apologetic enough that she keeps quiet and sits down on the sofa, only nods when Harry asks if she wants tea. It’s quiet for a while, or as quiet as it can be with Jacob sniffing about and mumbling about Jasper’s lingering scent. Harry just shoots him a mildly amused look.

“Edward broke up with me.” Bella suddenly chokes out. Her voice wobbles, as if she’s close to crying.

Harry blinks once. “Okay, so?”

Even Jacob looks a little surprised about the lackluster reaction. Bella just seems a little taken aback.

“You two dated for, what? Less than a year. It’s not the end of the world.” Harry doesn’t bother to be soft with her words, since she doesn’t have the patience to play along to this teenage drama.

“B-but, I love him.” Bella seems a little lost as she puts the teacup down and then breathes in deep. “I wanted to ask him to turn me, so that, so that we’re not too f-far apart in age. I-I was going to ask you, uhm…”

At this new information Jacob looks less surprised and more… angry, if Harry has to put a word to it. She watches the deep furrow of the shifter’s eyebrows, the flash of bared teeth and the way the boy flexes his arms. Harry sighs as she gets up and walks to the tiny kitchen and shifts around one of her cupboards for a bottle of some muggle alcohol that Alice and Emmett left in her place a while back.

“Are you old enough to drink?” Jacob doesn’t look like he has calmed down, not with the rumble in his voice, but he is trying to, at least.

Harry flicks the bottle cup on the coffee table and takes a swing of what she thinks is whiskey. “Trust me, mate, I’m older than you think I am. Now, about the bullcrap I just heard coming out of your mouth, Bella.”

The girl flinches back, curls into herself. But then takes a moment and straightens out, actually looks Harry in the eyes and says, “It’s not bulllshit. I love him and I want him to turn me.”

“You’re, like, sixteen. You don’t know shit yet.” Harry shoots back, completely uncaring that Bella is starting to look increasingly more annoyed. “Apart from that, you know Edward for less than a year, like I said. Changing your whole damn self for some guy you think is the one after, like, six months is beyond stupid. Even more so when he dumped your ass not that long ago.”

Jacob nods along. Bella looks at Harry with her mouth open.

“Listen, maybe he really is the one or whatever, but that doesn’t mean you owe him shit. Live for some time with him, actually get to _know_ him, and then decide if you want to spend your life frozen in time. It’s not as fun or great as you think it is.” Harry sighs and takes another swing of the alcohol. It burns going down.

Bella swallows. “But what if he gets tired of me… or I look to old for him?” Everything about her has turned into this small, unsure girl that has lost her way.

Harry feel sorry for Bella. Just a little bit.

“The he is a right arsehole and you should date Alice instead. _Look_ , he’s forever a dumb, emotional teenager. Those are not known for smart decisions. Get your shit together, hang out with your friends, your overgrown dog friends.” Harry nods towards Jacob, who snorts water up his nose. “The Cullens will all be back sooner or later, when they are done with family stuff in Arizona.”

Bella mulls over everything for a moment, then makes a soft questioning noise. “Wait, they are coming back?”

“Ah shit, they are?” Jacob sounds disappointed.

“According to Jasper, they are. Just need to help with some stuff and that’s it.”

A moment of silence stretches on. Bella chews angrily on her lip, gaze firmly frozen on her forgotten tea. Jacob is still coughing.

Finally, Bella huffs. “He told me he is leaving forever. Never coming back.”

“Like I said, dumbarse teenager.” Harry leans back in her armchair.

Bella takes another moment for thought, then pulls out her phone and hastily types out a message to someone. All of that is followed by some quiet muttering under her nose, one that makes Jacob’s eyebrows rise high. Shifter hearing, Harry guesses. With that finished, Bella slams her phone down on the couch cushions and takes one big, angry sip of her tea. Whatever conclusions and decisions that Bella has come to, she looks determined and Harry is glad.

“Thank you.” Bella once again looks Harry straight in the eyes, this time much happier than before. “You’ve given me lots to think about.”

“Always a pleasure.” Harry rises her bottle as a mock toast to the three of them.

…

There is something tense about the town. Harry wraps her fingers in the long sleeves of Jasper’s hoodie and curses under her breath when the wind picks up and whips her hair around. There aren’t that many people around and the few that are move quickly to where they need to go.

Harry manages to run into Bella in the grocery store. There is a man together with the human girl. He looks like someone who has had no sleep for a week straight, but his eyes are bright and calculating when he looks Harry up and down.

“Oh, Harry. Hi. Sorry, it’s kind of weird to see you around the town.” Bella tucks a long strand of hair behind her ear. The loose ponytail she has made doesn’t seem to be holding up that well.

“Hey, yeah. My kitchen is empty and food’s important, you know.” Harry looks up from Bella to the man next to her, “Hello. I’m Harry Potter, Bella’s friend.”

The man takes Harry’s offered hand for a shake. “Pleasure. I’m Charlie, Bella’s dad. I haven’t seen you around, or heard about you until now, though. Didn’t think there were any foreigners around.” Charlie directs the unsaid questions more to Bella, rather than Harry.

Bella for her part just huffs, perhaps a little embarrassed to be put on the spot as she waves her hand around while she looks for an answer. “I mean, she doesn’t go to school. Harry is Jasper Cullen’s girlfriend. We met through Edward. Or, Carlisle? The Cullens.”

Harry can’t keep her amused little chuckle at the bay. Charlie grins as well, not at all concerned about how put out his own daughter seems to be.

“I moved here last year, live up in the mountains. In this old cabin that way.” Harry points towards the main road that leads out of the town and towards the Cullen house.

Charlie makes an _ah_ sound. “Oh, that place. Now that I think about it, Billy did grump about some crazy young lady moving in there. Must have been you then, huh?”

Bella grumbles something about missed produce and slinks away. Charlie shakes his head and makes a half-asses shrug, like the tired father of a teenager that he is. Harry ends up chatting with the man until Bella comes back – mostly about how she’s doing living up in the forest on her own and how safe the place is from wild animals. Charlie ends up telling Harry that he’s the police Chief and if anything happens, she’s always welcome to come to him for help, or advice.

“Oh, young lady. Be careful, okay? There are some weird things happening lately, people been going missing and some turned up dead.” Charlie has this stern but worried dad air about him. He reminds Harry a little bit of Mr. Weasley.

Harry takes in the warning. “That’s worrying. Thank you for letting me know, I’ll stay on my guard.”

As she goes on with her shopping, Harry worries. On one hand it could be wild animals – wouldn’t be the first or last time when some wolves or bears attack humans. But something about the air in the town makes her think it’s not anything that simple. Still, out of all the people here, maybe apart from the shifters, Harry knows she’s the last one that needs to be worried. Not when she has magic. Or the power of hallows.

…

There is a murder close to Forks not long after.

Harry hears shifters howling in the woods throughout the whole night.

…

The moon hangs high in the sky as Harry listens to Jasper’s voice though the phone. It hasn’t been long since their last call, but now that the vampire is all the way across America it’s different. After years of being expected to be selfless and the hero Harry now knows that she can be selfish as well. And she is so very selfish with wanting Jasper back to her as fast as possible.

“ _—don’t know what you told Bella, but she and Alice have been texting, so I’m thankful. Edward, though, is sul—what?_ ” Jasper pulls away from the phone to whoever is calling out to him.

Harry stays quiet throughout the far-away conversation that her boyfriend is a part of. She feels a bit like an eavesdropper, being able to hear only muffled parts of only one side of a conversation. She sighs, knows that Jasper must have picked it up judging by the quite final _now, excuse me_ that stops the conversation in its tracks.

“ _Sorry about that, darlin’, there was some control problem with one of the newborn girls._ ” Perhaps as comic confirmation to this a dull, loud bangs follows Jasper’s excuse.

Harry shakes her head a little. “It sure sounds like it there, yeah.”

“ _Is something on your mind?_ ” Jasper asks quietly.

Harry pokes the tiny leaves of one of her succulents. She doesn’t want to worry Jasper, knows she can take care of herself if needs be. But there is something _strange_ about Forks lately, something dangerous that hovers over the town. “Sorry. There’s been murders lately, they say it’s wolves, but… I don’t know, doesn’t feel like wolves.”

The deaths had been _violent_ , drawn out, almost. When Harry visited the places where the poor victims had been found she felt the left-behind energy of death, saw the ghostly echoes of the people that were killed. They may seem like animal deaths, but the hallows think differently. _Harry_ thinks differently.

Jasper is quiet. “ _Has there been something strange about them?_ ” He sounds serious now, worried.

“The shifters have been active, howling and prowling around. I think that’s sign enough that they aren’t normal murders.” Harry bites her lip, sighs. “Either way, I don’t want to get involved. I’ve just been... worried.”

“ _Do you want me to come home?_ ”

Harry huffs, flattered by the offer. “Don’t they need you there, newborn expert and all?”

“ _The worst part is over and Carlisle is just as equipped as I am. The only difference between us is that I know how to kill one quickly, if needed._ ” Jasper is almost nonchalant about admitting to that particular skill of his.

Harry knows a little about the vampire’s beginnings, about the vampire wars that Jasper was a part of. Of what he was made to do. Not much, the same way Jasper doesn’t know everything about her, just some things that Harry has let slip from time to time. She doesn’t care. After all, she has no room to judge when some of her decisions have both saved some and doomed others.

“If you can. Please.” Harry lays her head on the windowsill. She shouldn’t feel so stupid over asking Jasper to be with her here.

Jasper shifts around and there is rustling on his end. “ _Don’t worry, I’m sure the others will understand._ ”

Harry pokes her tiny succulent again. This time she feels better, calmer. “Thank you.”

“ _What kind of gentleman would I be if I were to let my lady down._ ” Jasper leans into that old cowboy drawl to his words that always gets Harry giggling just a little bit.

…

“You got a new one. Here.” Harry traces the new bitemark on Jasper’s forearm with the tip of her finger.

The scar is slightly darker than the rest. Knowing vampire healing it wont take long for it to be just as pale as the rest, though there is not much difference in the color already. It sparkles in the sun the same way the rest of Jasper’s skin does – the effect reminds Harry of those cheap holographic pieces of paper that the Dursleys used to throw in the air for Dudley’s birthdays.

Jasper’s nose is buried in Harry’s hair. “You feel content, happy. It’s so nice after the confusion or fear, or hunger that always lingers around the newborns.” He splays his fingers open when Harry tugs at them lightly. “So nice.”

Harry just hums.

With such a nice weather Harry pulled Jasper outside of her home to just cuddle in one of the garden chairs. She’s in the vampire’s lap. Or rather, just laying all over the man however way she wants to. Despite it being late autumn it’s still warm out, with just enough wind to make it perfect for cuddling. Though, Harry needed to cast a warmth spell since Jasper isn’t exactly the warmest thing around.

“Alice came with me.” Jasper suddenly says. He raises his head from Harry’s head and tilts it to the side, listening.

Harry rolls around until she’s laying on her stomach, chin digging into Jasper’s chest, if that were possible. “Good for her. What are you listening for?”

“Hmm.” Jasper refocuses from whatever had caught his attention to Harry again. “Nothing important. Anyway, Alice had a vision, so she came with me to see Bella. Had a fight with Edward, or maybe not a fight. Their emotions were all over the place, made my head hurt.”

“My poor vampire.” Harry coos. She kisses Jasper on the nose.

Jasper seems content with being babied, so he simply lays back properly in the chair and wraps his arms around Harry’s waist, keeps her as close to himself as possible. “I missed you terribly, darlin’.”

Harry has heard those words many times now, despite it barely being a day later. But she’s the same. She also missed Jasper terribly. “Yeah, me too, babe. Me too.”

Eventually Harry falls asleep for a while. Thanks to her spell she doesn’t get cold, but Jasper does move her inside when it starts to drizzle, the sky clouding over surprisingly quickly. Harry yawns awake when the drizzle had turned into a right downpour, with lightning to go with it.

“Good weather for baseball.” Harry mumbles into her arm. She has cocooned herself into whatever blanket Jasper had laid over her and now doesn’t want to leave her tiny nest.

Jasper laughs from his perch on the couch. He has one of Harry’s books in his hand, the dusty issue of History of Magic that Harry kept only because of the notes scribbled on the sides of its pages, or the pieces of parchment stuck between them. There are some other of her old schoolbooks on the coffee table, either left there for Jasper to read afterwards, or because the vampire has already finished them.

“Find anything interesting there?” Harry pokes Jasper’s leg with her toes.

The vampire rubs one finger along the sole of her foot, making the witch twitch from how ticklish it feels. “Your kind loves wars, with themselves _or_ other species, I see. Not so different from normal folk.”

Harry pulls her legs away from Jasper’s determined fingers and snorts to herself. She still feels sleepy, fuzzy around the edges. “I’d say we’re worse.”

Jasper glances at her, makes a thoughtful noise before getting back to the dry text about whichever part of the magical history he is on at the moment. He waits a moment before speaking again. “You mentioned going back to England to meet your friends?”

“Huh? Oh, that. Yeah. I was gonna go sometime around Christmas, but I changed my mind and now I wanna go sooner. Like, next week sooner, maybe.” Harry yawns again. Her eyes slip shut on their own account when she gets comfortable again, ready to sleep some more.

Jasper hums again. “I’ll let Carlisle and Esme know, then.”

…

“Your forms of transportation are horrible, darlin’. But I think I prefer the teleportation over the whirlpool thing _or_ the fireplace.” Jasper rolls up the sleeves of his button-down now that they are safely inside the ever-chaotic Burrow.

Molly is instantly upon them, fretting over the sooth on Harry’s face. “Oh dear, oh dear. You should have just apparated in here. We haven’t cleaned the damn fireplace in so long.” Her hair is now dotted with a few grey streaks, unlike how Harry remembers the woman looking last time they met.

“I wanted to let Jasper experience it at least once.” Harry hugs Molly tightly before pulling Jasper forward, “Speaking of, this is him, my boyfriend.”

Jasper nods his head towards Molly once. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.” He seems a little awkward, though keeps himself together well.

Molly gives the vampire a very obvious once-over, lips pursed the way mothers do when they are taking in their kids’ significant others. In the end, though, she rolls her eyes and pulls Jasper in a hug as well, ignoring the man’s cold and hard skin, or how he doesn’t return the gesture at once. Harry does try hard to stifle her giggles when it has been made very noticeable that Molly is considerably shorter than Jasper because of the impromptu (but expected) hug.

“Welcome to the family, then. Ah, we’re a whole mix now, aren’t we?” Molly whips out her wand from the pocket of her apron and points it towards the stove. A pot starts to bubble merrily while some of the dirty dishes levitate towards the sink. “Go outside, everyone is there already. The kids are running around chasing the gnomes, bless them. Oh! While you’re going there take these as well, less for me to float out later.”

Jasper takes the pot of soup from Molly’s hands before she has finished her sentence and the woman slaps the vampire on the back. She shoes both Harry and her boyfriend out then, already gone back to the food.

Arthur is smoking his pipe at the head of the table, eyes closed and legs stretched out before him. Next to him Ginny is mumbling under her nose as she stealthily moves her wand under the table. The tip of it is pointed towards Bill, who is busy trying to get his daughter to behave.

“Don’t think he will appreciate the pink hair.” Harry bends down to whisper in Ginny’s ear.

The redhead just winks. “It’s all good. I just want to know how long it will take for him to notice.” Ginny then peers around Harry to stick her hand out for Jasper to shake. “Hey, vamp-boy. You’re gonna _love_ it here.”

“Somehow that feels more like a threat.” Jasper smiles back.

Later on the vampire has a small stare-off with Bill, both men taking each other in carefully. In the end they get over the instinctual, almost animalistic, reaction towards a type of supernatural being that could once be considered an enemy and spend the evening discussing each other’s view on the life they now have. Even Fleur joins in at some point, seeing as she is also not fully human.

“Harry, Harry, dear Harry. You always go for the pretty ones, don’t you? With the exception of my little sister, of course.” George settles next to Harry, his two-year old son knocked-out and drooling in his lap.

Ginny whips her head around instantly. “I dare you to repeat that, brother dear. Don’t want to walk around permanently pink, now do you?” She nods towards Bill, who is still sporting bright pink hair. Next to her, Neville looks towards the sky in a prayer of patience.

George wipes away an imaginary tear. “I see the teachings of Fred and I did not go to waste. Ah, so proud. I’m so proud, almost as if I was your father.”

“Proud isn’t the word I would use, exactly.” Arthur munches on some salad.

Harry laughs at the two hurt looks that Ginny and George throw their father, both already going into some long-winded whining about the unfairness and injustice of Arthur’s statement, how they expected better from the man that raised him. Harry shares a quick glance with Jasper over the table and grins wide. The vampire still looks somewhat awkward, but has loosened up considerably the more the evening has gone on.

“Young love.” George whispers in Harry’s ear suddenly.

“Yeah, so what?” Harry sticks her tongue out in a manner most childish. And so appropriate to the situation.

Ginny elbows Neville in the ribs. “Hey, speaking of Harry’s new romance, super happy for you, by the way. Did you know what Neville said after the first time we heard about the vamp-boy?”

“Ginny _please._ ”

“Shhh, it was funny. And appropriate, since we’re speaking about Harry here. Merlin knows what chaos she can get into while in America.” Ginny pulls on Neville’s ear lightly, nuzzling her nose in her boyfriend’s cheek as she does so.

Neville sighs heavily. He’s obviously used to Ginny’s quirks, though his own reluctance seemes to have been played up anyway. “If you insist. I said that at least Jasper seems to be more equipped to deal with Harry’s brand of adventurous.”

Everyone laughs, even Harry herself. She feels Jasper’s presence at her back, leans her head against the vampire’s stomach and blinks up at him. “Having fun?”

Now that Jasper is close enough, the other Weasley’s pull him into another round of talks. From Arthur’s inquiries about muggle educational facilities, to Ginny’s and George’s more vampire related questions, Jasper smiles easily and replies as best as he can. His hand stays on Harry’s thigh though, a solid presence.

“I’m glad, you know. You seem happier, more at ease. America has done you good.” Neville says between bites of potato and meat. After the last battle it seems he has also found his peace now, though the confidence in himself has stayed for good.

Harry leans her head against her palm and hums. There are only few of the group of people she can safely call her own and has never felt happier than right now. “Yeah. I think so as well.”

…

Dudley is different from how Harry remembers him. It has been years, of course, but the changes still makes her stop a little in her tracks. Despite the fact that they have been exchanging letters for a while now, the meeting still feels strange. Harry’s not quite sure how to act now that Dudley is here, in front of her.

The _Starbucks_ , thankfully, is pretty crowded, so whatever they are going to talk about will be lost in the loud murmur of other people.

“Hey, Big D. You look good.” Harry slumps in her seat. There’s already a cup of something hot for her on the table.

Dudley flushes a little, chuckles in what seems to be embarrassment. “Can’t believe you remember that stupid nickname.” He shuffles a bit in his seat.

But Harry’s not kidding. Dudley does look good now. He’s slimmed down, no longer the exact replica of Vernon, but now a slimmer, slightly more built man. Her cousin’s face is clean shaven, hair cut just long enough to go past his ears.

“It grew on me, what can I say.” Harry reaches for her cup and inhales the nice aroma of black tea. No sugar, which is fine.

Dudley drums his fingers nervously on the tabletop for a moment. “Fuck, this is awkward as shite. I thought meeting again would be, I don’t know, easier.” His phone dings with a new message, but Dudley only glances at it for a split second.

“It has been a couple of years. Anyway, I moved all the way to America in a fit of rebellion, what did you do?” Harry knows small things, whatever they talked about in the letters. Vague information, about jobs and moving and what happened with Voldemort. Nothing that important.

“I mean, I think you earned that move, probably. With the V dude and everything.” Dudley laughs at his own joke, though Harry also chuckles. He takes a deep breath, as if getting ready to do something big. “Well, I guess my rebellion was coming out as gay to my parents. Dad still doesn’t talk to me.”

Harry blinks once, honestly taken aback for a moment. She processes the information for a couple of seconds. “Oh, _damn_. Well done? You outshot my rebellion by a mile, Dudley.” She’s genuinely happy for her cousin though, despite the differences they may have had before.

The huge breath that Dudley lets out seems like it takes all the weight off of his shoulders all at once. He leans against the back of his seat and rubs at his eyes. “Bollocks that was nerve wracking. Yeah, uh, yeah, thanks. Matt said that after the blowout with dad nothing could be more stressful than that, but it doesn’t get any easier either.”

Harry takes in the soft smile that seems almost strange on Dudley’s face as he talks about this mysterious Matt. Her cousin looks bashful, a bit like a teenager talking about their first crush as he ruffles his hair and glances at his phone.

“Well, you know what I think about uncle. But good job, I’m happy for you, Dudley. Tell me about your boyfriend?” Harry puts her cup back down and gets comfortable.

“Oh, ah, yeah of course. But you need to tell me about yours too. You said you have a new one, right? Didn’t come with you?” Dudley snatches his phone and quickly types something out. “Sorry, I need to respond to this.”

Harry waves about the apology. “All good. Mine stayed back at the house, he’s not good with crowds.”

…

Jasper’s meetings with Ron and Hermione, then later with Tonks and little Teddy are much calmer and easygoing. The vampire bonds easily with the two kids, is very surprised at Tonks’ ability to change her appearance however way she wants to.

They are good meetings, ones that make Harry feels good and glad she came back.

...

Jasper is not in the bed when Harry wakes up. The now properly renovated and kept in order walls of Grimmauld Place stare back at her with quiet indifference. The whole house seems quiet, eerily calm. But Harry is used to it, to an extent, knows that the longer it would have stayed empty and unused the more foreign it would have become.

Unlike her tiny cabin in the Forks forest.

With a sigh she gets up from bed and walks out of the room. Even with all the changes she had done before leaving England, and what Luna and Draco had made after her, there are no properly good memories for Harry here. Just ghosts. Painful, painful ghosts.

Harry breathes in the air of tamed, _old_ magic and lets the sensation of Black wards settle over her. They fight back, as always, unwilling to listen to her, despite her being the one to inherit this place. Harry shakes her head and thinks that letting Draco move in here really was the right choice. At least he knows and appreciates the value of the centuries old legacy that rests in every nook and cranny.

With a slightly annoyed huff Harry walks down to the kitchen. Sleep is not coming right now despite how tired she is. There is muggle hot chocolate stashed in the cupboards upon Luna’s insistence, Harry knows, so she goes to hunt it down.

Jasper finds her later, when Harry is already done with half of her mug and feels herself falling back into the pleasant, floaty state of before-sleep.

The vampire is damp, his shirt sprinkled with the pitter-patter of raindrops. He sits on the other side of the kitchen table, in front of Harry, and wraps his hands around hers and the mug Harry is holding onto.

“What got you annoyed now, my darlin’?” Jasper slides his thumbs over her fingers.

Harry lays her head on the table, eyes closed and a pout on her lips, she just knows. “You weren’t around and the wards still hate me.” She doesn’t mean to whine, but the words stretch out anyway.

Jasper pushes his socked feet against Harry’s under the table. “How terrible. I went out to call Alice, thought you won’t notice.” A few stray raindrops drip from his hair and slide down his cheeks, making it seem like the vampire is crying.

“Everything okay back home?” Harry yawns into her arm.

“The shifters killed a stray vampire, one of the ones involved in last year’s trouble.” Jasper pulls the mug from Harry’s limp fingers. He’s gone and back again in a blink of an eye, the mug now left in the sink to clean up later.

Harry grunts when she’s lifted up and into Jasper’s arms. She snuggles against the man’s shoulder, smacks her lips to taste the last of the hot chocolate that still lingers on them. “Good for them.”

Come morning Harry wakes up to Luna’s singing and the cheerful laughter of a baby. She stretches out in the sheets like a cat and smacks Jasper in the face with her hand. The vampire just laughs and kisses her palm.

“Morning.”

“Morning, what else did Alice tell you?” Harry sits up. She yawns again, scratches her tummy and then flops all over Jasper as sleep and laziness tug at her limbs.

Jasper twists his fingers in Harry’s mess of a hair and tugs at the loose knots that have tangled up during the night. “The usual drama with Edward and Bella. But they think Victoria, the mate of one of the vampires that tried to attack you, is behind the murders. She’s angry, acting out.”

Harry is quiet for a moment. She blows a messy raspberry into the air. “Messy.”

They leave with a portkey, despite how much Jasper doesn’t enjoy that method of travel. Luna kisses them both on the cheek, pats Jasper on the head when the vampire bends down and wishes them good luck. Her son coos from the witch’s arms.

Being back in Forks is not much different than England. The same grey sky, the same tingle of magic floating in the air, only different in nature. Harry’s cabin is the same as she had left it, the air a bit stale and her flowers not as perky as before. She dumps her bags on the couch and then waves Jasper away, since the vampire wants to go down and check on Alice and Bella.

It starts to rain not even half an hour after Jasper leaves.

…

Harry apparates a few meters away from the Cullen home. The loud _bang_ that announces her arrival echoes rather annoyingly through the forest, but Harry hopes that the yelling from the house has managed to overpower it. From the message that Jasper sent her it seems to be a rather big thing, something connected to the murders and Edward’s tantrums concerning Bella.

Jasper meets Harry outside, together with Emmett. The bulkier vampire looks equal parts tired and apologetic, so unlike the usual cheery, happy-go-lucky him.

“Do I even want to know?” Harry asks when she’s close enough, though for the two vampires it probably doesn’t matter much.

Emmett groans. He’s slumped on the ground, back and head against the house wall. “It’s a war zone in there. Going to the Volturi stupid this, turning into a vampire stupid that, not taking stupidest of all, taking votes blah blah. What are we, the Kardashians?”

“All the emotions going high-wire in there are giving me a headache. It’s hard to keep control.” Jasper leans into Harry. He sighs and closes his eyes, seems to be focusing in on just Harry now.

“I guess I don’t want to know.” Harry slowly pets Jasper’s head. She laughs when Emmett whines at her and reaches out to pet the overgrown buzzcut that the vampire is rocking.

“Edward almost went to, like, vampire version of last game bosses because of some misunderstanding. Luckily, Alice had a vision and called Carlisle. And then Bella and turning somehow got involved. Man, it has been going on for _so long_ now.” Emmett whines like a sad dog.

There is a _thump_ from inside the hose and the two vampires share a look. Harry rolls her eyes.

Esme pokes her head through a window and blinks at the three of them with a soft, motherly look that she always gets when one of her pseudo-children are around. It feels to Harry like the vampires are having some kind of a silent conversation between them and after a moment she realizes it really could be happening, if one of them possess a special skill like that.

Something shatters inside and Esme closes her eyes for a moment.

“Well, at least whatever that was didn’t hit Bella.” Emmett comments offhandedly.

Harry raises one eyebrow. “Bella’s here? Isn’t that kind of dangerous, being in the middle of a bunch of not too happy vampires?” She pats Jasper’s back in silent apology when the vampire shifts away from her in guilt. “I didn’t mean you, I meant in general.”

Esme purses her lips just slightly. “Half of the fight is about her, so it would be rude for her to not be here and speak for herself.”

And Bella does, suddenly. Though it’s less speaking and more yelling. “—at about Harry then? You’re fine with her being around and being with Jasper? If she’s fine why am I not okay?”

The appearance of her name makes Harry feel irritated, especially when she starts to piece together the context. Or, what she thinks the context might be. The reply, if there is one, is too quiet for her human ears to hear, but if they are bringing her into this mess, then she wants to be part of it. Personally.

“Oh dear. Please, be nice?” Esme looks behind her with evident worry.

Jasper has turned his head towards the house to listen in on the talk. “Carlisle is trying to calm her down without giving away what you are. We know there are rules about that for your kind.”

For that alone Harry feels thankful for this specific vampire cover that she stumbled into. They have been nice and accepting of her, of the rules that the magical kind have in place. But, there is a part of her that is most certainly not magical – the hollow her. The part of death that became her and has stopped her, made her what she is now.

More than the average magical, supernatural, _strange_.

Jasper must feel the positive emotions mixing with the apprehensive ones that come forth when Harry thinks deeper about what she became in order to defeat Voldemort, to protect those she cares about the most. So, Harry just shakes her head and tiptoes up to kiss Jasper’s cheek before walking inside the eye of the storm.

Edward is pacing back and forth the room. Rosalie is an agitated, but beautiful predator sat in the couch. There are tears of frustration in Bella’s eyes as Carlisle tries to calm them all down from whatever they are all fighting about. Only Alice seems somewhat out of it, as if she’s not fully in the present.

“You’re frail! It’s dangerous for you and you _cannot_ become like me! Like-like some soulless _monster_.” Edward bares his fangs, hands tangled in his own hair.

Bella chokes on what had sounded to be a sob. “It’s not like I want to be turned tomorrow! I said maybe in the future somewhen! And it’s _my_ choice, not yours!” She slaps her own chest hard, probably a spur of the moment action that the girl doesn’t even realize she has done. “And _what_ , I’m frail but Harry isn’t? She’s with Jasper all the time and no one says a damn thing about them! _You_ don’t say a thing about them!”

Rosalie rolls her eyes.

“That’s because I can take on a vampire easily enough, despite looking frail and weak.” Harry injects before anyone else in the room can.

Now that all eyes are on her, though everyone apart from Edward and Bella had noticed her presence here long before the two fighting teenagers, Harry cracks her neck. If she will do what she plans to do, then she needs to get ready for it properly.

“ _Please_. You’re not human, sure, but you don’t look like you can take on a vampire.” Bella waves her hand towards Harry, gesturing to all of her as if to prove her point.

Rosalie snorts. “If we go by looks, then neither Alice nor Edward look like they can do _shit_ , if you didn’t know they are vampires.”

With a sigh Harry decides to just show, rather than try and explain. The witch closes her eyes and lets the power settle into her bloodstream, her bones. This time it’s not just the aura, the _feeling_ of wrongness and power that works more than enough for anyone from the magical part of the world. This time she feels the more visible marks of the hallows slide into place.

Harry has never seen herself when she lets this much slip out. She’s not sure she wants to.

Bella gasps and stumbles back. The vampires also seem taken aback, Carlisle less than others, though. Harry breathes outs, grimaces at the cold that spreads through her fingertips. Just as quick as she had summoned it, Harry wills it back inside, locked away safely where the power usually stays.

“Rosalie is right, you know. Looks don’t mean _shit_ when we’re talking about this part of the world.” Harry shakes out her arms fully.

Jasper is there instantly, a hand on her shoulder and a pull on her emotions. It’s probably his work that calmness settles in place of the earlier distaste and Harry is thankful. Later, she will tell Jasper about that later.

“W-what the f-fuck are you?” Bella blinks, swallows. She’s scared and that’s normal in the face of death.

Harry feels like laughing, almost. But she won’t. Not now at least. “Don’t know. I didn’t become _this_ by choice. But now I’m pretty much stuck and let me tell you, it’s not fun. Which is why I told you to think about becoming a vampire more seriously, other than because you think it looks cool or some other crap.”

Alice looks sad, when Harry chances a glance at the vampire girl. She doesn’t hesitate to come up to Harry and hug the witch, despite the tense atmosphere still choking the air. “No one should be forced into eternity.”

Bella slides down to sit on the floor. Esme is instantly by her side with a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder and kind words whispered in the mess that is Bella’s hair. Carlisle gives Harry an apologetic smile, since this is surely not how he wished for things to go down.

“You told her to think seriously? About turning.” Edward sounds… lost. Like the child that he still is, despite the years he has spent frozen in time. It’s sad.

Harry leans her head against Alice’s shoulder. “I did. It’s a serious decision, irreversible. And her reasons for it where complete bullshit.”

Carlisle comes up to Edward and pats his back. He looks around the room, looks at each and every one of them for a couple of seconds and then seems like, if he could, he’d sigh. “I know nothing has been resolved, but how about we put an end to this for the day. We can talk again once everyone has calmed down and can think rationally, _without_ yelling.”

Harry doesn’t have the strength to refuse Jasper’s quiet request to take her home. She settles in the vampire’s hold and enjoys the refreshing push of wind against her face as the man races through the forest towards her home.

“I’m sorry, darlin’.” Jasper kisses her neck once they are in Harry’s bedroom. He holds her so gently, carefully. Not because Harry’s is fragile, but because to him the witch is special.

Harry exhales the last dregs of sourness from her lungs and slides her hands down Jasper’s back, clutches at the man’s shirt. “Not your fault.”

She falls asleep slowly, with Jasper’s cold lips presses to her forehead, the vampire wrapped around her like a safety blanket. A barricade against the rest of the world and anything that might hurt her. Harry doesn’t dream that night and for that she is thankful.

…

“Will you tell me one day, darlin’?” Jasper is busy with helping Harry work on her flowerbeds. His hands are dirty with soil and fertilizer.

Harry sweeps sweat from her forehead and looks up at her boyfriend. “Yeah. Does it bother you, that I need time?”

“No, never.” Jasper kisses her quickly, a peck on the witch’s lips that lasts just seconds.

**Author's Note:**

> ayo, i still dont know anything about twilight and relied on sparknotes to actually understand wtf is going on. turns out twilight second book is uneventful and boring, so i made everything up and then went fuck it and got england and more of the potter world involved. also, we still gonna ignore the fact that i'm making up the timeline as i go along with this lol
> 
> but yeah. there is a thing between bella/alice/edward now. dont ask me about it, i have no idea what i am doing either. for now, we live with true teenage drama that happens on the background mostly bcs i dont wanna go that deep into with them. smth will happen there but you'll see the results only?
> 
> ALSO ily all who read the first thing but im horrible with replying to comments so pls dont hate me or think that i ignored you. i read every comment at least 4 times or so, i just rarely reply bcs im a mess of a human being. 
> 
> thank you for reading, im pretty sure i will write a fic for the other 2 books as well but.... i dont want to promise anything bcs... i am still a lazy slob. there is hope tho. there is hope.
> 
> :D


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